Women’s Basketball Tops Husson, Wins Nail-biter over Bates
Following a dominant 88-67 win over the Eagles on Tuesday, the Mules improve to 3-0 in the conference standings after taking a tight 58-55 victory over the Bobcats on Sunday.
In Tuesday night's matchup against Husson, Colby opened a sizeable lead in the third quarter and never looked back. Kate Olenik finished with 20 points and five rebounds while Defne Pekinbas tallied a career-high 16 points. Three other Mules contributed points in the double-digits; Lydia Mordarski (13), Amelia Hanscom (13) and Chelsea Ibenegbu (11).
Bates jumped out to an early lead on Sunday, but Colby outscored the Bobcats by 11 in the second quarter to take a 34-30 lead at the half. With nine lead changes and a tight two-point game with two minutes remaining, the Mules came up with a big stop to seal their third conference victory in as many tries. Olenik, playing all 40 minutes, contributed 22 points and 11 rebounds for her first double-double of the season. The sophomore ranks second in the NESCAC with 20.1 points per game. Ana Von Rumohr and Hanscom added 12 and 10 points respectively.
Colby will host Thomas on Tuesday night before taking on Bowdoin in Brunswick on Saturday. The matchup features the final two undefeated squads in NESCAC play.
Swimming & Diving Continues Their Winning Ways Against WPI
With 26 event winners (out of a potential 32), Colby's men's and women's teams defeated the Engineers of WPI on Saturday afternoon. The men's team made it three victories in a row while the 20th-ranked women's team stays perfect on the season at 5-0.
The women's team swept the podium in four events, as Kellen Mottl and Caitlin Lacey won a pair of individual events each. The men's team had event winners in an astonishing 15 events, highlighted by two wins apiece by Ivan Knoepflmacher, Spencer Cohen, Brandon Morrison, Carson Rehkopf, and Alexander MacLennan.
Men's Event Winners:
- Rehkopf - 100 & 200 Freestyle
- Morrison - 100 & 200 Butterfly
- MacLennan - 100 & 200 Breaststroke
- Cohen - 100 & 200 Backstroke
- Skylar Yoham - 400 IM
- Ethan Chang - 50 Freestyle
- Nathaniel Chon - 500 Freestyle
- Curtis Johnson - 1000 Freestyle
- Knoepflmacher - 1M & 3M Diving
- 400 Medley Relay - Rehkopf, Morrison, MacLennan, Chang
Women's Event Winners:
- Mottl - 100 & 200 Breaststroke
- Lacey - 50 Freestyle & 100 Butterfly
- Eliza Marco - 100 Freestyle
- Zoe Buzzelli - 200 Freestyle
- Ruby Venturelli - 500 Freestyle
- Savannah Lombardi - 1000 Freestyle
- Tahlia Crowley - 100 Backstroke
- Lexi Asch - 200 Butterfly
- 400 Medley Relay - Crowley, Mottl, Asch, Marco
The Mules will have a short turn around before heading to New London to face Conn. College on Monday.
Sweeney's Silver Medal Leads Alpine in Lake Placid
For the second stop of the EISA Carnival circuit, Colby sped its way to four top-10 results in Lake Placid, highlighted by Nolan Sweeney’s (headline photo) silver medal in the Giant Slalom.
Fellow sophomore Harrison Digangi slid into 7th place in the GS for his best result of the young season, teaming with Sweeney to land Colby in fourth in the 13-team field. Hanna Soria led the women’s team placing 12th.
In Friday's Slalom, Carrissa Cassidy’s collected her second 4th place finish in as many tries, narrowly missing the podium. Soria was hot on her heels in 5th, leading the women’s team to a third place finish on the day. Digangi led the men’s team in 13th.
Men's Team Top-30 Finishes:
- Sweeney - 2nd Giant Slalom
- Digangi - 7th Giant Slalom, 13th Slalom
- Topher Davenport - 22nd Slalom
- Patrick Coughlin - 29th Giant Slalom
- Brooks Reed - 29th Slalom
Women's Team Top-30 Finishes:
- Cassidy - 4th Slalom
- Soria - 5th Slalom, 12th Giant Slalom
- Charlotte Maurer - 20th Slalom
- Finn Boissonneault - 27th Giant Slalom
- Marit Kaiser - 28th Giant Slalom
- Lydia Riddell - 29th Slalom
After the long road trip, Colby will enjoy a bye week before the EISA picks back up January 31st at Smugglers Notch for the Saint Michael's Carnival.
Men’s Basketball Splits the Week Against Bowdoin and Bates
Despite falling to Bowdoin in a non-conference matchup on Tuesday, the Mules made a statement Saturday in Lewiston jumping all over Bates from the get-go and cruising to a 82-60 victory.
An early lead for the Polar Bears Tuesday night proved to be the difference, despite the Mules outscoring their counterparts 35-31 in the second half. Max Poulton led the way for Colby with 18 points, followed by Marcos Montiel with 15 and Dan Civello with 10.
On Saturday, the Mules bounced back in a major way to secure a conference win over the Bobcats. Colby found themselves out in front early, leading by 12 after only five minutes, and extending their lead to 18 at the break. Despite a spirited effort in the second half by Bates, the Mules took care of business to even extend their lead and put the Bobcats to rest. Montiel (17 points) and Jack Lawson (15 points) paced the starters, but the major difference in this matchup was the 37 bench points collected by Colby. Sam Hinman and Civello netted 17 and 15 points respectively and combined for nine three-pointers.
Max Poulton currently sits 20 points shy of 1000 for his career.
The 10-6 Mules (currently sitting in 5th) travel to Husson on Tuesday before returning home for three straight NESCAC matchups.
Women's Ice Hockey Earns Split with Camels
The Women’s Ice Hockey team played two fierce games with Conn. College this weekend, splitting the pair of one-goal games.
In Friday’s setback, the Mules pummeled the Conn. goaltender right from the start, owning a 10-1 SOG advantage through the first 17 minutes. The opportune Camels made the most of their chances, connecting on two of their next three shots to take a 2-0 advantage into the second period. Anna Staton got one back in the second for Colby, but a swarming Camel attack held the Mules scoreless in the third to earn the win.
In Saturday’s matinee, Colby tallied the first three goals of the afternoon (Maria Pierce, Jo Tattersall, Cailyn Murphy) and held off a late Camel charge for the victory. Mandy Busky tallied 18 saves to stay undefeated in net with a 4-0-1 record.
With a 9-3-1 record, Colby sits in sixth place in the stacked NESCAC standings. The Mules will take to the road next weekend to face the Ephs of Williams College.
Squash Begins 2025 with Three NESCAC Matchups in a Four-Day Span
Despite sitting dormant in the opening weeks of 2025, the Mules exploded with opportunity this week hosting Hamilton, Williams and Middlebury this week in a four-day stretch.
On Thursday, the Continentals were up first as both the Men's (9-0) and Women's (8-1) team took care of their opponents with ease. In the end the Mules only surrendered seven games across the 18 matches.
Colby faced the Eph's on Friday as both the men's and women's team came up short. Inwoo Lee (3-0), Carlos Zendejas (3-2) and Youssef Mostafa (3-0) secured the three individual victories on the men's side while Laavanya Kugan (3-0) and Abhisheka David (3-2) picked up wins for the women out of the top two positions.
Following a day of recovery on Saturday, the Mules were right back at it against the Panthers on Sunday. Despite a 8-1 loss for the women's team (Kugan collected the lone win 3-0), the men pulled out a hard fought 5-4 victory. Lee, Seif Ashraf and Timo Radionov all secured wins in the top three positions as Mostafa and Syed Kashef secured the other two victories to tip the scales in favor of the Mules.
The Mules will prepare to play hosts to the Cardinals of Wesleyan this Friday evening. With the CSA moving their Individual Championship up from the end of the season to this coming week, both the Mules and Cardinals will be without several top players.
Shootout Win Over Wesleyan Highlights the Week For Men's Ice Hockey
Visiting the Constitution State for matchups with Wesleyan and Trinity, Colby was able to win its first shootout of the season Friday night against the Cardinals. Regulation goals by Bobby Landry and Wyatt Schmidek helped the Mules force overtime, and after a scoreless three-on-three frame the game was set to be decided by the one-on-one showdown.
Makes by Massimo Gentile and Dhillon Wilde, and two stops by Cooper Rautenstrauch, put all eyes on Will Soloway as the first-year found the back of the net for the 3-2 victory.
In Saturday's game at #11 Trinity, the Mules scored three times (Max Abene, Jayden Mullens, Max O'Brien) and Rautenstrauch tallied a career-high 40 saves, but the Bantams still held the advantages with four goals and an empty-netter.
Colby currently sits in 3rd place in the NESCAC standings with a 9-4-2 record. The Mules now enter the second half of the NESCAC schedule hosting Williams and Middlebury this coming weekend.
Defor's 9th Place Tops for Nordic Skiing in Lake Placid
Racing at Mt. Van Hoevenberg for the second stop on the EISA Carnival circuit, the Nordic Ski team battled with the top Division I, II, and III skiers in the eastern region.
Collecting nine top-30 results on the weekend, the Mules were led at the St. Lawrence Carnival by Andrew Defor’s second top-10 finish in as many weeks. The sophomore finished 9th in the Classic, joined by Taiga Moore’s 19th for top-20 finishes. Defor also led the men’s team in Friday’s Freestyle, placing 22nd.
Natalie O’Brien was stellar in the Classic for the women’s team coming in 22nd. Lola Villafranco led Colby in Friday’s Freestyle placing 27th.
Men's top-30 Finishes:
- Defor - 9th Classic, 22nd Freestyle
- Moore - 19th Classic
- Benjamin Lewis - 27th Freestyle, 27th Classic
- Ellis Slover - 28th Classic
Women's Top-30 Finishes:
- O'Brien - 22nd Classic
- Villafranco - 27th Freestyle
- Lydia Kraker - 29th Classic
After the whirlwind start to the carnival season, Colby will enjoy a short break before returning to the trails January 31st for the Saint Michael's Carnival.
Track Competes at Bates and Brandeis to Begin 2025
With split squad events scheduled this past weekend, Colby's distance athletes traveled to Lewiston for the Bates Invitational. Claire Beebe collected a podium finish taking third in the 3000m run, and Ada Grant took 6th in the Mile. On the men’s side, top performances came from Ciaran Groom with a 10th place finish in the Mile while Stephen White finished 17th in the 3000m (out of 35 competitors).
The sprints, hurdles, and jumps athletes of the Colby Track & Field team headed to Waltham, Mass on Saturday for the Reggie Poyau Memorial Invitational hosted by Brandeis. As a team the men took second place out of the 10 competing teams while the Women took third. Overall, the Mules came away with multiple top-five results including six first place finishes.
Men’s Top-Five Finishes:
- Pole Vault - Lexington Lehnert 1st, Peter Martel 2nd, Logan Lehnert 4th
- 500M - Ren Zanze 1st, Sam Graubart 3rd, Jackson Coelho 4th
- 60M - Ian Irwin 2nd, Terrell Hood-Simeon 4th
- 300M - Irwin, 2nd
- 60M Hurdles - Levi Biery, 3rd
- 4x400M Relay, 1st - Martel, Coelho, Biery, Zanze
- 4x200M Relay, 2nd - Irwin, Hood-Simeon, Milan Joshi, Ivan Yan
Women’s Top-Five Finishes:
- 500M - Kailtyn Ewald 1st, Fiona Mejico 2nd, Kristina Pizzi 4th
- 300M - Waheed 1st, Tally Zeller 4th
- 60M - Simone Waheed 2nd, Ellie Wang 4th
- Long Jump - Ariel Estime, 4th
- Pole Vault - Gabriella Bresnick, 4th
- Triple Jump - Estime, 5th
- 4x400M Relay, 1st - Pizzi, Ewald, Mejico, Charlotte Brake-Hoffman
- 4x200M Relay, 3rd - Wang, Mia Sullivan, Michelle Barnes, Jordan Roskiewicz
The Mules will be back in action at USM on January 25th and at Middlebury on the 26th.
Special thank you to the photographers who helped make this production possible: Bonnie Baker Photography, Steve Cheney P'25, Stephen R. Clouthier, Traigh DeMasi '28, Jamie Fiedorek '25, Steve Fuller @flyingpoint, Peter Li '26, Michael Maher, Reese Robinson '27, Junan Shimizu '25, Daryn Slover P'28, Ansley White '26, and the Colby Communications team.